Mr. Raymond McCord:

There will be no back doors. Dr. Farry is not disrespectful to people. If they disagree with him for reasons of their own and not just out of badness or for sectarian reasons, he accepts that and takes it on the chin. That is their opinion, and he sits back and asks whether they were right and he was wrong in saying something. People should not be afraid to said that. Politicians should not be afraid to admit that they were wrong. If they were being truthful, many candidates would not be running in the election, given the stories they have told us over the years.

The issue we are discussing at this meeting is the justice system. It is not working in Northern Ireland despite the efforts of victims. Victims should not need to push for this. Rather, politicians should. Dr. Farry, several other politicians and a number of people from the SDLP have helped us. It is not the large parties that support us. Rather, it is the ones further down the chain that do. I have to say it the way it is.

Correct me if I am wrong, but since the amnesty proposals were published, I have heard nothing positive about it from the Minister of Justice, Ms Naomi Long, despite emails sent to her. I know her well, but it seems like the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland is ignoring this issue. We have requested meetings.

In terms of the justice system and the Good Friday Agreement, paramilitary prisoners lead lives like no other prisoners. They can do what they want in Maghaberry prison. They are treated differently from ordinary prisoners. Coming down on the train, we were talking about the mothers and partners of some of those in jail who have been abused at Maghaberry prison. I have sent emails about this to the justice system. It does not happen to the paramilitary prisoners. They get special treatment. The people who continue to torture communities and still want a war footing are treated as if there is something special about them. No one is disputing that some ordinary prisoners have committed serious crimes and deserve to be in prison, but prisoners with mental health issues are being placed in the punishment blocks for three months at a time for no reason. When they ask why that is they are told that it is not up for debate. Mothers are ringing me at 12.30 a.m. crying out of fear that their sons will get murdered in prison. They are not talking about prisoners doing it either, but prison officers. People say that these are false claims, but there has not been a proper investigation. When prisoners try to rehabilitate, they are not allowed to do so. We want to live in a peaceful society, but prisoners come out of prison with a chip on their shoulders and the people who will suffer are the general public again.

The justice system is not working. I do not just mean in terms of dealing with legacy cases. Rather, it is not working in terms of dealing with prisoners, particularly in Maghaberry prison. I have spoken to the mothers, who are worried about their sons. Their sons are no angels by any means and they are being punished, but questions need to be asked publicly of the Director General of the Northern Ireland Prison Service. I have spoken about this to politicians previously. Three years ago, Ms Rachel Woods rang and said that she would meet me about it, but she was under the impression that the director general had met me. He had not. When there is a director general of a prison service that is not being run the way it should be and where people should be rehabilitated so that they do not return to prison and the public are kept safe when they get out, I have no other option – I spoke to people before coming down to Dublin and they wanted me to raise this issue because it is part of the justice system – but to call for the director general to resign.

People need to do their job. Funding should not be given to people who are not worthy of it and should not have it. The same applies to people who have high-flying jobs back in Northern Ireland and are not able to do the job. It should be given to people who care and who will do their best to ensure these people can come out of prison with some sort of training. People go into prison without a drug problem and come out of prison with a major drug problem. Some young people are killing themselves. A nephew of mine who came out from prison told me it was terrible. In the cell next to him prison officers were beating a fellow up. Forms are available for prisoners to complain. They are not left out; the prisoners ask for them. Once they ask for them, they are told that if they submit the form it will get worse for them. That is part of our justice system. It needs to be completely overhauled. Naomi Long needs to look at herself and speak to people not just to the prison people. With these issues here I would have thought that the Minister of Justice would have been speaking to victims. I remind Dr. Farry that most victims do not belong to victims' groups and their voices are not being heard.